This week’s act of kindness wasn’t something I witnessed myself.
In fact, I didn’t even know it happened until two days later.
Right now, we are in the middle of a major backyard renovation. Between concrete work, stone, a pool liner, an outdoor kitchen, and a fireplace, there has been no shortage of activity around our house.
At the same time, I was underwater with a transcript deadline. Most of my attention was focused on getting pages edited and delivered, so I wasn’t paying much attention to what was happening outside.
A few days later, my daughter Abigail asked me if we could buy some Gatorades for one of our contractors.
At first, I thought it was an odd request.
“Why?” I asked.
She told me that she had seen him eating breakfast outside through her bedroom window.
Curious, she asked Robert what he was eating.
That’s when Robert told her he had brought him a plate of breakfast.
I just sat there for a second.
Then I started crying.
Abigail instantly ran and told Robert, “You made mom cry.”
Kindness is the way to my soul, and sometimes it just strikes me like a bow in the heart.
Not because Robert made breakfast.
Robert makes breakfast every Saturday. It’s one of those routines that has become part of our family life.
What touched me was that he thought to share it.
While I was buried in work and focused on a deadline, Robert saw a man working hard on our project and decided to make enough for one more person.
He didn’t ask for recognition.
He didn’t tell me about it afterward.
He had nothing to gain by that. If anything, it put the contractor further behind. But Robert doesn’t weigh kindness like that.
As far as he was concerned, it wasn’t a big deal.
He was making breakfast anyway, so he simply carried a plate outside and shared it.
The contractor never mentioned it.
Robert never mentioned it.
The only reason I knew about it was that Abigail happened to see it through her bedroom window.
What made the story even sweeter was what happened next.
Abigail wanted to buy him Gatorades.
She had seen a small act of kindness and immediately wanted to join in.
As parents, we spend so much time hoping our children will learn the right things.
We teach lessons.
We have conversations.
We correct mistakes.
But sometimes the lessons that stick aren’t the ones we intentionally teach.
Sometimes they’re the ones our children quietly observe.
A dad carrying a plate of breakfast outside.
A contractor eating on a job site.
A little girl watching through her bedroom window.
And a reminder that kindness has a way of multiplying when someone else sees it.
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